The Republican Jon Husted broke a tie vote from the Hamilton County Board of Elections to appeal the decision in Hunter v. Hamilton County Board of Elections.

Judge Susan Dlott ordered the Hamilton County Board of Elections earlier this month to count all provisional ballots cast at the correct location but wrong precinct in the November 2010 election.

The attorney for Democratic juvenile judge candidate Tracie Hunter said her client was thrilled with the ruling because it would have added more than 300 votes to the tally.

Republican John Williams led by 23 votes over Democrat Tracie Hunter when the ballots were counted shortly after the election, but hundreds of provisional ballots had not been counted because they were filed in the wrong precinct.

The Ohio State Supreme Court ruled that the ballots should not be counted, but the Sixth District Court of Appeals ruled that the ballots should be counted.

Husted said the county board of elections should appeal that court's ruling, and the case was tried before Dlott over three weeks in July and August.

In explaining his decision to appeal Dlott's ruling, Husted said he's concerned that a federal court is dabbling in a local judge race, and he said the ruling was contrary to Ohio law.

"This decision in Hunter has broader implications than the outcome of one race in Hamilton County," Husted said. "From an elections administration standpoint, the only way our state can adhere to Ohio law, comply with the federal court's ruling and avoid future costly legal battles over the counting of ballots, would be to mandate single-precinct polling locations in every county in Ohio. This would significantly drive up the cost to counties of running elections, and inject even more confusion for voters during a presidential election year."

An interim judge has presided over the dispute as it played out in the courts.